Bulls-Nets Preview

By BRIAN MAHONEYPosted May 04 2013 11:41AM

NEW YORK (AP) - Time for the Nets' biggest game in Brooklyn.

The Nets have brought their first-round series against Chicago to a Game 7, a victory away from equaling the largest playoff comeback in NBA history. And they've brought it back home, where Barclays Center has to be more than a beautiful, $1 billion building.

They are counting on a true home-court advantage against whichever banged-up Bulls can take the floor Saturday night.

"The reward for the way we played in the regular season is that this Game 7 in the first round is in our building. So I'm just very confident our guys are going to take advantage of the opportunity and continue to do what they've done all year," Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo said Friday.

The Nets never hosted a Game 7 during their 35 years in New Jersey, dropping the only one they ever reached at Detroit in 2004. But they get one right away in their first season in Brooklyn, which looked unlikely just a week earlier.

Chicago was a win from closing it out after rallying for a triple-overtime victory last Saturday, but a combination of the Nets' play and the Bulls' pain has Brooklyn poised to become the ninth NBA team to win a series after trailing 3-1.

The key Saturday is to play as hard now that it's all even as they did when they were behind.

"I think that's a big, big concern, to continue the desperation with which we've played," Carlesimo said during a conference call. "Our mantra's kind of been the last couple of games to win and go on and get it back it Brooklyn for Game 7, and we certainly can't think that we've done the hard part already. What's left is going to be more difficult than the last two games and I think that's going to be a challenge tomorrow."

The challenge for the Bulls is putting together a healthy team. Luol Deng won't play Saturday as he remains hospitalized in Chicago with an illness that kept him out of Game 6. He's unable to travel, but Chicago hopes to have Kirk Hinrich back after he's missed the last two games with a bruised left calf.

Nate Robinson and Taj Gibson played with the flu Thursday, Derrick Rose still isn't back, so the Bulls will have to battle their way through tough circumstances at least one more time.

"It's going to be a fight," guard Jimmy Butler said. "The tougher team is going to get the win."

Or the healthier one.

The Nets have clearly caught a break with the injury to Hinrich, whose absence has made things much easier for point guard Deron Williams, followed by the Bulls' illnesses. But they also appear to have a deeper roster even if Chicago was healthy, with reserves such as Andray Blatche and former Bulls guard C.J. Watson making key late-game contributions. Their reserves outscored Chicago's 27-7 on Thursday.

"We've dealt with that all season. We've been short-handed from the start. We lost more guys along the way," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "These guys have responded all year. I felt we were in position in Game 5. I felt like we were in position in Game 6. So we have to play our best game tomorrow."

The winner opens the second round Monday at Miami, having survived a two-week beating and then getting just one full day off to face a powerful Heat team that will be well-rested after sweeping Milwaukee.

"If you start thinking about the next series, you're not going to be in the next series, so I think that what's served us well so far is taking it a day at a time," Carlesimo said. "If we don't manufacture the same kind of desperation, the same kind of energy to match or exceed Chicago's energy, than we're not going to have to worry about who's next."

The Phoenix Suns are the last team to win a series after trailing 3-1, beating the Los Angeles Lakers in 2006.

The Nets believe they can do it, having built double-digit leads in each of the last four games, winning the only two blowouts in the series and appearing capable of cracking the Bulls' respected defense. Even in Game 6, when they escaped with a 95-92 victory, they rang up 60 points in the first half.

Forward Gerald Wallace has said they believe they are the better team, but the Nets realize how difficult the Bulls will make it to complete the comeback.

"Obviously, they're going to give us a fight in Game 7," center Brook Lopez said.

A few Nets veterans have Game 7 experience and Carlesimo isn't worried about the ones who don't.

Copyright 2013 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Bulls beat Nets 99-93 in Game 7

By BRIAN MAHONEYPosted May 05 2013 12:05AM

NEW YORK (AP) Joakim Noah climbed over the baseline seats, his foot that hurt so much two weeks ago that he feared he couldn't play looking pain-free as he embraced his mother.

The first Game 7 in Brooklyn belonged not to the Nets, but to the guy who played here in high school.

"I'll remember this for the rest of my life," Noah said.

Injured, ill and just as determined as ever, the Chicago Bulls beat the Nets 99-93 on Saturday night to win the first-round series.

Noah had 24 points and 14 rebounds, and Marco Belinelli also scored 24 points to help the Bulls advance to a second-round series against defending champion Miami that starts Monday night.

Carlos Boozer added 17 points as the Bulls shook off injuries to two starters and every run the Nets tried to make in the second half to win a Game 7 on the road for the first time in franchise history.

"I'm just so proud of this team. We've been fighting through so much all year and to be in this situation, play on the biggest stage in the world and to be able to win and now play against the Heat, all these experiences, I (don't) take those for granted," Noah said.

The Bulls opened a 17-point halftime lead with a rare offensive outburst, and found a way to get big baskets every time the Nets pulled close to win the NBA's only do-or-die game of the first round.

"I thought our guys, we took a big punch in Game 1 and we kept fighting back and that's been the story of the season," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said.

Deron Williams had 24 points, seven assists and six rebounds for the Nets. They were trying to become the ninth NBA team to win a series after trailing 3-1.

But they had a horrendous first-half defensive performance and Joe Johnson was bad all game on offense, finishing with six points on 2-of-14 shooting, including 1 of 9 from 3-point range.

With Luol Deng (illness) and Kirk Hinrich (bruised left calf) out again and Derrick Rose still not ready to return from last year's torn ACL, the Bulls leaned on Noah, who could barely play when the Bulls were blown out here two weeks ago in Game 1 because of plantar fasciitis in his right foot. He logged 41 minutes and shot 12 of 17 while also blocking six shots.

"It's disappointing. We won Game 6, we felt like this was our series, but they came out and played a great game," Williams said. "Noah, like I said, he's a warrior. He battled through his injuries and just had a monster game. We really had no answers for him down low tonight."

Noah helped the Bulls spoil the Nets' first home Game 7 in their NBA history at the end of their first season in Brooklyn. They had played only one Game 7 in all their years while they were based in New Jersey, falling at Detroit in 2004.

Chicago improved to 1-6 in road Game 7s.

Deng, tested for meningitis earlier in the week, was back in the hospital Friday night and unable to travel. Hinrich warmed up in hopes of playing before he was ruled out.

It didn't matter to the Bulls, who backed up Thibodeau's vow that they would have no excuses and play well.

Coming out ready to work, the Bulls got their first two baskets on offensive rebounds by Boozer and Noah, and they led most of the first quarter before bringing a 29-25 lead to the second on Taj Gibson's jumper with 0.8 seconds left.

It was 40-36 before the Bulls took control with solid offensive execution and poor Nets defense. Noah had consecutive baskets before seldom-used Daequan Cook made a 3-pointer to cap an 11-2 run, and after a basket by Andray Blatche, Boozer, Nate Robinson and Noah ran off the next six points to give Chicago a 57-40 lead as the crowd began to boo.

"I think we weren't as aggressive as they were, especially on the boards and the defensive end in the first half," Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo said.

The Bulls capped it with a stunningly easy dunk by Boozer with 1.2 seconds left off an inbounds pass, sending the Bulls to the locker room with a 61-44 advantage.

Brooklyn burst out of the locker room with a 10-4 run, and back-to-back 3-pointers later in the third period by Gerald Wallace kicked off an 11-2 surge that got the Nets within 69-65 on Williams' free throw with 5:29 left.

Jimmy Butler hit a 3-pointer and Robinson scored to steady the Bulls and push the lead back to nine, and they led 82-75 after three.

The Nets opened the fourth with just one point in the first five minutes as consecutive baskets by Boozer pushed the lead back into double digits. The Nets kept trying to get back in it, getting it all the way down to four on a 3-pointer by Williams with 26 seconds left, but Belinelli hit four free throws from there.

Brook Lopez had 21 points and nine rebounds, and Wallace finished with 19 points for the Nets, who finished a successful first season in Brooklyn in a disappointing way, getting booed late in the first half while allowing Chicago to make eight of its final 12 shots.

Robinson finished with 12 points in his second straight start in place of Hinrich.

Notes: Rihanna, whose concert that was scheduled here for Saturday was postponed to Tuesday night after the Nets forced Game 7, sat in the courtside seats belonging to fellow music star Jay-Z. ... New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia was in the crowd - wearing a Brooklyn Dodgers hat.

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Copyright 2013 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Notebook: Bulls 99, Nets 93

THE FACTS: Joakim Noah scored 24 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, blocked six shots and led the Chicago Bulls to a 99-93 victory that ended the Brooklyn Nets' season in a deciding Game 7 Saturday night. Marco Belinelli also contributed 24 points to the Bulls' effort.

A big second quarter helped Chicago take a 17-point lead into halftime, and while the Nets threatened to come back at multiple points during the second half, the difference was too big to make up. Deron Williams led Brooklyn with 24 points, while Brook Lopez scored 21 and snatched nine rebounds.

QUOTABLE: "I think we weren't as aggressive as they were, especially on the boards. ... The second quarter got away from us a little bit. Then we came out with great energy, great effort in the third quarter, and even in the fourth. Another shot here or call there, we could've gotten back in it, but that's a heck of a hole to dig against a team that's competing to win every game."

? Nets coach P.J. Carlesimo

THE STAT: 99 ... for a team playing without multiple key members, the Bulls still managed a very solid scoring night, putting in 99 points and shooting 48.8 percent (40-for-82). They were also effective at the free throw line, converting 92.3 percent of their attempts.

TURNING POINT: The Bulls outscored the Nets 32-19 in the second quarter. Brooklyn never recovered from the 17-point deficit.

QUOTABLE II: "We're not satisfied, because we feel like there's still a lot to accomplish. ... I thought our guys threw a big punch in Game 1, and we kept fighting back. That's been the story of the season. The big thing is to be mentally ready, physically ready and emotionally ready to play the Heat."

? Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau

HOT: It wasn't enough to get Brooklyn over the edge, but Gerald Wallace's scoring burst in the third quarter re-energized the Nets and the Barclays Center crowd. Wallace scored 19 points in total, 11 of which came in the third.

NOT: Joe Johnson had an off night, shooting 2-for-14 and finishing with only six points. His offensive production was sorely missed.

GOOD MOVE: Nate Robinson guarded Williams throughout the first quarter, and the Nets star was able to have his way with the much smaller Robinson. But Jimmy Butler soon switched onto Williams, vastly slowing him down.

NOTABLE: A range of celebrities, from Yankees C.C. Sabathia and Robinson Cano to Rihanna, were present at the Barclays Center for the game. ... The Bulls are now 4-6 in Game 7s in franchise history. This was their first Game 7 win on the road. The Nets are now 0-2 in Game 7s. ... The Bulls won without Luol Deng (complications following a spinal tap), Kirk Hinrich (bruised left calf) and Derrick Rose (ACL). Robinson and Taj Gibson battled through flu-like symptoms as well.